SPEECH 


1 


HON.  F.  W.  PICKENS, 

OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA, 

ON  THE  BILL  TO 

DISTRIBUTE  THE  PROCEEDS  OF  THE  PUBLIC  LANDS 

AMONG  THE  STATES. 


In  the  House  of  Representatives ,  July  2,  1841 — On 
the  bill  to  distribute  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands  amongst  the  States. 

Mr.  PICKENS  said  he  did  not  rise  to  trespass 
upon  the  time  of  the  committee  by  any  lengthy 
discussion  as  to  the  mere  details  of  the  bill.  Con¬ 


tradictory  and  unsound  as  many  of  those  details 
were,  he  left  them  to  be  adjusted  and  modified  by 
of  the  measure.  It  would  be  his  pur¬ 
pose  tp'sjpeak  to  the  great  principles  and  vital 
poinj^involved  in  it,  and  connect  it  with  the  other 
measures,  which  constitute  one  system  as  a 

whole,  to  be  presented  by  the  dominant  party  at 
present,  for  the  adoption  of  this  Congress,  and  the 
sanction  of  the  country.  We  were  induced 
to  believe  that  Congress  was  called  together  at  this 
extraordinary  session  for  the  purpose  of  relieving 
what  were  said  to  be  the  necessities  of  the  Treasu¬ 


ry — to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  Treasury — because 
the  means  would  be  short  of  the  demands.  And 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  had  laid  before  us  a 
report,  which  Mr.  P.  could  not  defend,  but  the 
statements  of  which  he  would  avail  himself  of  in 
the  remarks  he  would  make.  The  Secretary  had 
called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  fact  that 
there  would  be,  at  the  end  of  this  year,  a  deficit 
in  the  Treasury  of  six  millions  of  dollars,  and 
that,  in  the  course  of  1842,  there  would  also  be  a 
deficiency  of  six  millions  more.  And,  instead  of  pre¬ 
paring  to  meet  this  supposed  exigency  by  prudence 
and  wise  means,  we  propose,  first,  to  divide  out  an¬ 
nually  three  millions  of  revenue  that  has  been  re¬ 
ceived  in  common  for  forty  years,  so  as  to  make 
this  supposed  deficit  still  greater,  instead  of 
relieving  the  Treasury  by  supplying  it  with  means, 
for  which  purpose  we  were  called  together,  you 
propose  first  to  withhold  from  it  one  of  its  largest 
and  most  just  sources  of  supply.  The  next  great 
proposition  we  have  made  to  us  is,  to  borrow 
twelve  millions  ol  dollars  for  eight  years.  Con¬ 
nect  this  with  the  other,  and  it  is  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  a  proposition  to  borrow  money,  that  you 
may  distribute.  You  propose  to  raise  taxes  with 


one  hand,  that  you  may  distribute  the  revenue  with 
the  other. 

Again:  to  meet  all  these  arrangements,  we 
have  the  proposition  to  raise  the  taxes,  so  as  to  in¬ 
crease  the  revenue  from  customs  at  least  twelve 
millions  of  dollars  over  what  it  would  b<?  under  ex¬ 
isting  laws.  Mr.  P.  said  he  would  not  say  what7 
had  taken  place  in  committee;  but  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  in  presenting  his  whole  system  of 
measures,  had  recommended  an  increase  of  the  ta¬ 
riff,  so  thatevery  article  now  under  20  per  cent,  du¬ 
ty,  should  he  increased  up  to  20  per  cent.;  and  arti¬ 
cles  duly  free  were  also  to  be  raised  up  to  20  per 
cent,  except  such  as  were  intended  to  be  a  benefit 
to  the  manufacturing  interest;  and  those  things  that 
they  specially  consumed  were  still  to  be  duty  free. 
The  compromise  was  so  framed  that  the  first  half 
of  i.s  operation  was  intended  to  benefit  investments 
in  manufactures,  and  the  last  half  operated  to  the 
benefit  of  the  exporting  or  free  trade  interest;  and 
now  the  proposition  was  to  deprive  us  of  this  bene¬ 
fit.  It  was  well  known  that  next  year  duties  would 
commence  to  be  paid  in  cash;  and  if  the  borne  va¬ 
luation  were  to  be  executed,  (which  I  do  not  be¬ 
lieve  can  be  done,  as  it  is  impracticable,)  that,  with 
cash  duties,  would  be  equal  at  least  to  10  per  cent. 
The  whole  amount  of  the  proposition  was,  in  effect, 
(for  the  last  biennial  operation  of  the  compromise 
went  into  operation  31st  December  next,)  to  in¬ 
crease  our  taxes  to  20  per  cent,  upon  ail  importa¬ 
tions,  except  such  as  were  consumed  especially  by 
the  manufacturers.  Considering  the  vast  and 
increasing  resources  of  the  country,  it  would 
not  be  difficult  to  show  that  ih'S  would 
give  us  a  revenue  from  customs  in  eigh¬ 
teen  months  from  this  time,  of  at  least  twenty- 
six  millions  of  dollars.  In  two  years,  in  all  hu¬ 
man  probability,  our  importations  wilt  be  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  millions:  say  that  twenty  millions  are 
excepted,  and  then  you  will  have,  at  any  rate, 
twenty-six  millions  from  imports  at  20  per  cent, 
ad  valorem.  This  will  be  at  least  twelve  millions 
more  than  we  would  have  this  year  under  the  pre¬ 
sent  system.  It  is  then  a  proposition  to  increase 
the  taxes  at  least  twelve  millions  of  dollars.  We 
then  have  a  proposition  pending  (which  he  feared 


« 


f 

would  become  a  law)  to  create  a  United  States 
Bank,  and  for  this  Government  to  subscribe  into  it 
ten  million  of  dollars,  with  the  condition  to  in¬ 
crease  it  up  to  near  seven  millions  more.  Take 
the  ten  millions,  however,  and  that  is  to  be  done 
by  creating  Government  stock  at  five  per  cent.; 
which  is  the  same  thing  as  to  borrow  it.  We  then 
have  the  twelve  million  loan  bill — the  proposition 
to  increase  the  taxes  twelve  millions,  and  the  ten 
millions  stock  in  a  Bank,  making  in  all  thirty-four 
millions  of  dollars,  in  funds  proposed  to  be  raised 
immediately  by  the  dominant  party  of  this  country. 
But,  sir, in  addition  to  all  this,  we  now  have  the  pre¬ 
sent  bill  before  us,  which  is  to  distribute  annually 
three  millions  of  our  revenues.  It  would  not  be 
at  all  difficult  to  show  that,  with  our  increasing 
population,  and  returning  prosperity,  we  will  have, 
in  eighteen  months  from  this,  not  only  three  mil¬ 
lions  from  the  public  lands,  in  revenue,  but  at  least 
five  millions  annually,  ii owe ver,  assume  for  the 
present  ihe  sum  to  be  three  millions,  and  to  distri¬ 
bute  that  amount  annually,  is  the  same  thing  in 
effect  as  to  fund  the  public  lands,or,  in  other  words, 
to  create  Government  stock  at  six  per  cent,  interest, 
to  the  amount  of  fifty  millions  of  dollars.  What  is 
the  difference?  Suppose  you  were  to  say  that 
you  will  create  Government  stock  for  fif  y 
millions  dollars,  and  that  you  would  divide 
or  pay  over  the  interest  annually  amongst 
the  States,  is  it  not  plain,  that  as  far  as  money  is 
concerned,  it  is  identically  the  same  proposition  as 
to  divide  three  millions  of  dollars  annually  from 
your  revenue?  If  the  amount  should  be  more,  of 
course  ihe  stock  would  be  greater.  The  proposi¬ 
tion  then,  as  far  as  an  operation  in  finance  is  in¬ 
volved,  is  to  fund  the  public  lands  at  fifty  millions 
of  dollars.  You  propose  to  set  aside  that  great  and 
permanent  source  of  revenue,  for  the  benefit  of 
others*  The  wit  of  man  cannot  show  the  difference 
as  far  as  the  fiscal  action  of  the  Government  is 
concerned,  between  this  proposition  to  divide  the 
land  revenue,  and  a  proposition  tocreaie  Govern¬ 
ment  stock  at  6  per  cent,  to  the  amount  of  fifty 
millions  of  dollars;  for  it  is  an  annual  division  or 
dividend.  Stripped  of  its  disguises  and  flimsy 
pretexts,  this  is  its  meaning,  its  spirit  and  sub 
stance,  or  it  has  none.  Add  this  fifty  millions  of 
public  stock  thus  to  be  created,  to  the  other  thirty- 
four  millions,  and  we  have  an  aggregate  of  eighty- 
four  millions  of  funds  now  proposed  to  be  raised 
by  this  Government.  These  are  >he  naked  pro¬ 
positions  made,  not  to  relieve  the  wants  of  your 
Treasury,  but  to  relieve  the  speculating  and  spend 
thrilt  race,  by  fixing  them  through  this  Govern¬ 
ment  upon  the  tax-paying  people  of  this  Confede¬ 
racy.  So  far  as  the  pecuniary  operation  was  in¬ 
volved — so  far  as  the  national  finances  were  con¬ 
cerned — the  effect  of  this  and  the  other  measures 
now  proposed,  would  be  to  create  eighty-four  mil¬ 
lions  of  public  funds  over  and  above  the  ordinary 
sources  of  revenue,  and  the  ordinary  wants  of  the 
Government.  Such  were  the  naked,  undisguised 
piopositions  before  the  country. 

This  bill  is  only  part  and  parcel  of  ihe  same 
Stupendous  system.  He  had  thought  that  Congress 
was  called  together  to  relieve  the  wants  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury;  but  now  the  argument  was  to  relieve  Ihe 
country — to  relieve  the  States.  Did  I  say  to  relieve 


the  States?  No,  the  practical  operation  of  the  bill 
was  to  relieve  not  the  States,  but  the  debtor  class 
of  the  States — those  corporations  for  turnpikes, 
railroads,  canals,  and  banks,  that  had  plunged  the 
States  into  debt  for  their  purposes.  Its  final  ope¬ 
ration  would  be  to  fill  with  delusive  hope  all  those 
classes  of  society  who  had  attempted  to  tax  poste¬ 
rity  for  their  ex’ravagance  and  profligacy. 

Connecting  all  these  measures  together  as  one 
system,  it  did  not  surprise  me  that  the  gentleman 
from  Maryland  [Mr.  Johnson]  had  brought  for¬ 
ward  this  bill  as  the  first  to  be  acted  on.  If  Con¬ 
gress  had  been  called  d  ogether  really  for  the  pur¬ 
pose  of  relieving  the  wants  of  the  Treasury,  would 
not  the  loan  bill  be  taken  up  first?  Would  we  not 
take  up  the  question  of  the  additional  revenue 
which  was  called  for  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury?  And  then  after  these  measures  for  the  re¬ 
lief  of  the  Treasury  had  been  dispored  of,  we 
could  then  take  up  any  secondary  measure  following 
them?  But  the  object  in  truth  was  not  to  relieve 
the  Treasury  or  the  people,  but  to  relieve  and 
assist  the  great  stock  interest  which  had  become 
identified  with  the  States,  and  had  plunged  them 
for  ten  years  past  into  debts  beyond  the  resources, 
beyond  the  immediate  abilities  of  their  own  people 
to  meet  without  difficulty.  And  now  they  called 
upon  us — upon  those  States  and  sections  that  had 
kept  out  of  debt — to  pledge  the  land  of  the  country — 
ihe  great  public  domain,  for  the  purpose  of  sus¬ 
taining  all  their  interests.  It  was  a  naked  and  un¬ 
disguised  issue  between  the  speculating  and  stock 
interest  on  the  one  side,  and  the  great  laboring* 
and  landed  interest  of  this  Confederacy  on  the 
other.  Brought  down  to  a  proper  analysis,  this 
was  the  sum  and  substance  of  the  whole  matter. 

You  could  not  have  an  enlightened  view  by  look¬ 
ing  at  these  propositions  separately;  they  must  be 
viewed  together,  as  branches  of  the  same  general 
system,  relying  on  each  other  as  fostering  and  sus¬ 
taining  certain  great  interests  For  instance:  the 
public  stock  to  be  subscribed  in  a  Bank,  was  in¬ 
tended  to  benefit  those  immediately  identified  with 
the  banking  interest.  The  increase  of  taxes  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  received  incidental  protection 
and  got  the  disbursements— -the  loan  bill  would  sti¬ 
mulate  the  money  market.  And  the  distribution 
bill  was  intended  to  benefit  the  foreign  fund-holder. 
It  was  nominally  to  relieve  Maryland,  which  was 
in  debt  fifteen  millions;  Pennsylvania,  said  to  be 
more  than  twice  that  amount;  New  York,  also  in 
debt  to  a  large  amount;  Illinois,  Indiana,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  and  all  those  States  which  were  in  debt. 
Suppose  ihe  debts  of  the  States  and  their  corporations 
to  equal  one  hundred  and  eighty  millions  of  dol¬ 
lars,  then  the  distribution  under  this  bill  would  not 
pay  half  the  interest.  Those  who  are  now  interested 
in  urging  it  will  finally  urge  this  Government  to 
create  immediately  Government  stock  equal  to  the 
value  of  the  public  lands  funded,  and  transfer  that 
to  the  foreign  fund-holder,  and  take  in  lieu  of  it 
Slate  stocks  bow  held  by  then’.  Then,  in  adminis¬ 
tering  ihe  proceeds  of  the  lands,  according  to  this 
bill,  the  Government  will  concentrate  the  whole 
operation  within  itself,  and  retain  (at  first,  but  will 
finally  yield  that)  the  distributive  share  of  each 
Slate  as  an  indemnity  for  the  United  States  stock 
transferred  in  lieu  of  State  stocks.  Thus,  the  final 


operation  will  be  to  assume,  in  this  indirect  mode, 
the  debts  of  the  States.  The  whole  amount  is  to 
mortgage  the  land  and  labor  of  the  country  for  the 
benefit  of  those  who  desire  to  live  by  taxing  others, 
and  thus,  by  legislative  legerdemain,  to  enable  the 
swindling  speculator  and  spendthrift  to  transfer  his 
debts  to  the  honest  and  industrious,  to  be  collected 
by  Government,  under  such  forms  and  delusions 
as  almost  to  defy  scrutiny. 

If  there  be  any  in  the  community  who  have  hus¬ 
banded  their  resources  and  abstained  from  specu¬ 
lation,  it  is  but  due  that  they  should  have  the 
full  benefit  of  their  situation  in  times  of 
reverses  and  depression.  It  is  not  right  that  they 
should  be  put  under  contributions  to  relieve  their 
more  adventurous  neighbors.  Perhaps,  in  former 
times  of  speculating  mania,  they  were  ridiculed 
for  their  parsimony  and  want  of  foresight  by  those 
“who  are  wise  in  their  own  conceit.”  I  am  for 
just  protection  to  property.  I  think  one  of  the 
first  objects  of  a  civilized  government  is  not  only 
to  protect  property,  but  never  to  tax  it  unnecessa¬ 
rily  for  any  object,  much  less  for  the  benefit  of  any 
particular  classes  in  community. 

Sir,  there  is  no  magic  power  in  Government  to 
create  money.  Whenever  Government  attempts 
to  relieve  the  debtor  class,  they  must  do  so  by  using 
the  credit  or  resources  of  those  who  have  kept  oui 
of  debt,  or  by  losses  made  to  fall  upon  the  creditor 
class. 

I  abhor  that  modern  demagoguism  that  would 
relieve  one  portion  of  the  community  by  taxing 
another  portion.  The  honest  proceeds  of  labor  in 
all  its  branches  ought  never  to  be  touched,  except 
from  necessity.  Whenever  a  man  has  accumu¬ 
lated  property  by  fair  enterprise  and  industry,  let 
Government  protect  him  in  the  full  enjoyment  of 
it  for  himself  and  his  heirs.  I  respect  that  pro¬ 
perty  which  has  thus  been  acquired,  and  its  posses¬ 
sor,  as  well  as  the  property  that  has  been  inherited 
from  an  honest  ancestry.  I  respect  it  as  the  expo¬ 
nent  of  industry,  frugality,  enterprise,  and  worth. 
But  I  have  no  feeling  for  that  artificial  wealth 
which  has  been  fostered  by  incorporated  credit, 
with  all  its  arrogance  and  conventional  habits. 
Those  who  have  acquired  property  by  grinding  the 
face  of  the  poor,  and  by  unhallowed  schemes  of 
swindling  speculation— I  care  not  with  what  su¬ 
percilious  air  and  upstart  pretension  they  may 
claim  rank,  yet  I  feel,  and  have  ever  felt,  towards 
all  such,  the  most  profound  contempt.  Let  Govern¬ 
ment  be  impartial — exactly  just  to  all  interests, 
from  the  peasant  who  dwells  in  his  mountain  cot¬ 
tage,  up  to  the  man  of  princely  fortune  who  spreads 
his  palace  upon  the  seashore. 

Mr.  Chairman:  This  bill  is  calculated  to  be 
one  of  the  most  important  in  its  future  operations 
that  has  ever  been  presented  to  the  adoption  of  a 
deliberative  assembly.  There  is  nothing  like  it  in 
the  annals  of  legislation,  except,  herhap?,  Mr.  Fox’s 
great  East  India  bill.  That  bill  was  calculated  to 
effect  deeply  the  extensive  East  India  possessions 
of  Great  Britain,  and  the  fate  of  millions  of  human 
beings — making  them  not  only  vassals  of  the  Bri¬ 
tish  crown,  but  dependants  upon  the  British  Mi¬ 
nistry.  True,  its  effects  were  to  be  felt  principally 
by  an  ignorant  and  semi-babarous  race,  who  had 
slumbered  for  ages  in  enervated  indolence.  But 


this  bill  was  to  operate  upon  an  enterprising  and 
spirited  people — it  was  to  embrace  in  its  provi¬ 
sions  an  empire  as  vast  and  extensive  in  its  re¬ 
sources  as  the  Indies.  Cast  your  eyes  over  the 
map  of  that  mighty  country,  laved  as  it  is  by  the 
Pacific  on  one  side,  and  that  stretches  itself 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  in  the  South,  and  your  great 
inland  seas  in  the  North,  and  you  will  see  that  it 
embraces  a  region  from  which  empires  may  be 
carved.  Where  is  the  American  heart  that  does 
not  exult  with  pride  to  trace  the  Missouri  and  the 
Mississippi  as  they  roll  through  that  noble  valley 
destined  to  be  an  inheritance  for  millions  of  free¬ 
men?  Let  us  rejoice  in  its  hills  and  plains — its 
rivers,  and  mountains,  and  lakes,  rather  than 
look  upon  them  with  the  miser’s  eye  as  sources 
from  whence  we  are  to  draw  future  contributions, 
to  be  divided  amongst  the  needy  and  the  avari¬ 
cious.  You  propose,  by  this  bill,  to  lay  that  great 
and  growing  region  under  annual  exactions,  col¬ 
lected,  not  for  the  common  support  and  common 
defence  of  a  united  country,  but  to  be  distributed 
among  those  who  will  be  pensioned  as  sturdy  beg¬ 
gars  around  your  plundered  Treasury.  Why  are 
we  now  called  upon  to  change  your  present  land 
system,  which  has  been  adopted  almost  from  the 
commencement  of  your  Government,  and  under 
which  such  great  results  have  been  produced? 
Look  back  only  thirty  years  ago,  (a  very  short 
time  in  national  existence,)  and  has  the  world  ever 
seen  such  a  change  in  a  country?  Your  present 
system  has  in  that  period  brought  into  ex¬ 
istence  nine  States  of  this  Confederacy.  For¬ 
ty  years  ago,  and  we.  had  but  a  handful  of 
daring,  enterprising  citizens,  who  had  sought  a 
home  in  the  wilderness  of  the  West,  but  now  they 
hold  a  population  equal  to  that  which  achieved 
our  independence  in  the  war  of  the  Revolution. 
Peace,  and  happiness,  and  power,  and  civilization, 
have  been  the  fruits  of  your  present  system;  and 
why  now  make  this  great  and  vital  change?  Are 
we  prepared  to  act  on  this  vast  and  comprehen¬ 
sive  subject  at  this  extra  session?  You  tread  upon 
unknown  ground.  Other  Governments  have,  by' 
fatal  legislation,  lost  their  finest  possessions,  and 
we,  too,  by  hasty  and  unwise  legislation  now,  may 
lose  our  control,  and  finally  our  power,  over  the 
noblest  country  that  ever  expanded  its  bosom  to 
the  sun  of  Heaven. 

The  gentleman  from  Maryland  [Mr.  Johnson] 
rests  this  bill,  and  the  right  of  this  Government  to 
make  the  distribution,  under  the  Virginia  ordi¬ 
nance  of  1784,  and  other  grants  from  the  States, 
making  a  transfer  of  these  lands  to  the  Federal 
Government.  He  contended  that  we  were  bound 
to  make  this  distribution.  Mr.  P.  said  he  would 
net  follow  the  gentleman  [Mr.  Johnson]  through¬ 
out  his  ingenious  and  eloquent  argument  upon  the 
construction  of  these  deeds  of  cession.  I  will  not 
stop  to  chop  logic  upon  words  with  that  gentleman. 
The  argument  upon  that  point  had  last  winter  been 
exhausted  in  the  other  end  of  this  Capitol,  and  to 
go  into  it  would  be  but  to  tread  upon  the  same 
ground.  Neither  will  I,  Mr.  Chairman,  appeal  to 
the  abracadabra  of  the  Constitution;  that  has  long 
since  ceased  to  have  its  charm  upon  this  commit¬ 
tee.  I  fear  that  consecrated  parchment  is  hereaf¬ 
ter  to  become,  in  the  future  struggles  of  the  Repub- 


4 


lie,  any  thing  that  power  may  choose  to  make  it. 
But,  sir,  if  I  were  to  dwell  upon  the  construction 
of  those  deeds  of  cession,  I  should  be  totally  at  a 
loss  to  knew  how  ihe  words  “common  fund,” 
which  were  used  in  all  these  grants,  could  be  con¬ 
strued  to  mean  a  separate  fund  belonging  to  the 
States  separately.  Divide  this  “common  fund,” 
and  give  it  to  the  States  separately,  and 
what  is  the  result?  You  distribute  it  to  the 
States;  and  by  the  very  act  of  distribution 
you  will  destroy  the  very  language  of  the  grants. 
That  which  is  declared  to  be  “common”  becomes 
separate.  The  language  is,  “a  common  fund  for 
the  use  and  benefit  of  all  the  States.”  By  distri¬ 
bution  you  make  it  a  seperate  fund  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  each  State  instead  of  “all  the  States.” 
It  is  a  gross  and  palpable  solecism.  The  lan¬ 
guage  is  so  plain  that  it  can  hardly  bear  comment. 
Again,  we  see  the  language  is,  “according  to  their 
respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and 
expenditure.”  Now,  if  gentlemen  claimed  detri¬ 
tion  to  the  States  under  these  grants,  they  must 
*make  it  upon  the  rule  which  the  grants  lay  down 
according  to  their  doctrines.  “According  to  their 
respective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  and 
expenditure” — what  was  the  meaning  of  that? 
Could  we  understand  it  under  our  present  sys'em? 
No!  we  must  go  back  to  the  period  of  adoption  of 
those  grants.  They  w@re  made  under  the  Articles 
of  Confederation — previous  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  We  all  know  that,  under 
the  Confederation,  Congress  had  no  power  to  tax 
directly.  But  each  State  had  its  quota  of  taxes  to 
raise,  to  bear  its  “proportion  in  the  general  charge 
and  expenditure.”  Congress  fixed  the  ratio  or 
proportion  for  each  Slate,  and  each  State  raised 
that  by  taxation  to  suit  itself.  What  re  venue  was 
raised,  was  from  the  States  as  States.  N«  w,  under 
this  system, we  can  understand  the  terms  used  in  the 
grants.  They  meant  that  whatever  might  come 
in  from  the  lands  might  be  a  “common  fund”  for 
the  “use  and  benefit  of  ' all  the  States”— “according 
to  their  respective  proportions  in  the  general 
charge  and  expenditure.”  That  is,  that  their  re¬ 
spective  proportions  in  the  general  charge  should 
be  diminished  by  the  same  ratio  applied  to  the 
calculation  of  the  amount  put  into  the  “common 
fund”  from  the  lands.  For  instance,  if  that  “com¬ 
mon  fund”  was  three  millions  annually,  then  the 
States  were  to  have  that  amount  passed  to  their 
credit,  “in  the  general  charge,”  in  the  same  pro¬ 
portion  that  their  quota  of  taxes  had  been  esti¬ 
mated  by  the  Federal  Government. 

There  is  no  other  meaning  to  it.  And  I  defy  any 
man  to  understand  it.  without  taking  into  considera¬ 
tion  the  manner  in  which  the  Federal  Government 
apportioned  out  taxes  amongst  the  States  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation.  The  adoption  of  the 
present  Constitution  had  changed  the  whole  power 
of  taxa’ion.  Congress  was  now  enabled  to  raise 
taxes  directly  from  the  people  instead  of  the  States. 
Asfarastho  power  of  taxation  was  involved  by 
this  Government,  we  were  now  made  one  people. 
Revenue  was  collected  from  the  people  instead  of 
the  States.  And  I  defy  you,  under  the  present  sys¬ 
tem,  to  tell  what  is  the  “respective  proportion  in 
the  general  charge”  to  any  State  in  the  Union.  It 
cannot  be  done.  If  it  be  true  that  these  words  jus¬ 


tify  distribution  to  the  States,  then  the  rule  laid 
down  by  the  grant  itself  cannot  be  executed.  No 
sir!  it  is  all  a  fallacy.  Ths  substance  of  the  grants 
was  to  make  it  a  “common  fund.”  And  if  the 
rule  laid  down  in  the  grants  has  been  changed,  it 
has  been  done  by  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Con¬ 
stitution,  and  Virginia  herself  has  assented  to  that 
change  by  agreeing  to  the  Constitution.  That  in¬ 
strument  now  makes  a  common  Treasury,  and 
give?  power  to  the  Federal  Government  to  fill  it  by 
collecting  taxes  from  the  people  instead  of  the  States, 
as  formerly;  and  you  have  no  right  to  make  that  a 
separate  fund  which  comes  into  the  common  Trea¬ 
sury  as  a  “common  fund.”  There  is  neither  logic 
nor  justice  in  the  construction  that  assumes  distri¬ 
bution  as  a  consequence  from  the  grants.  If  you  as¬ 
sume  to  distribute  under  the  grants,  you  must  be 
controlled  by  the  rule  they  lay  down.  If  you  go 
according  to  “their  respective  proportions  in  the 
general  charge,”  what  right  have  you,  in  equity,  to 
divide"  amongst  the  new  States  first  ten  per  cent, 
from  the  proceeds  over  and  above  their  common 
share  in  this  “common  fund?”  Yet  this  bill  pro- 
po;es  to  give  them  that  much  besides  their  general 
dividend,  and  also  a  large  amount  of  lands  over  and 
a^ove.  You  claim  in  one  line  to  be  governed  by 
the  grants,  and  yet,  in  the  next,  you  utterly  disre¬ 
gard  them.  The  truth  is,  the  Constitution  has 
made  a  common  Treasury,  and  all  funds  coming 
into  it  are  common  funds,  applicable  to  the  specific 
objects  granted  in  that  instrument,  and  whenever 
you  seek  out  ether  objects  not  defined,  you  travel 
int )  a  wild  field  of  uncertainty,  where  construclion 
becomes  law,  and  power  executes  whatever  may 
be  dictated  by  interest.  Since  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  there  cannot  be,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  separate  funds  in  the  revenue,  and  to  divide 
the  Treasury,  or  any  part  of  it,  as  of  right  to  the 
separate  States,  is  to  denationalize  the  Udlon, 

But,  independent  of  this,  where  is  your  right  to 
go  beyond  the  Mississippi  and  seize  upon  the  lands 
purchased  by  treaty?  The  grants  from  the  States 
were  confined  to  lands  this  side  of  that  river.  We 
purchased  Florida,  also,  by  treaty;  and,  besides, 
we  paid  Georgia  for  what  we  got  from  her,  em¬ 
bracing  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  except  a  narrow 
strip  of  land  south  of  the  35th  deg.  of  latitude,  run¬ 
ning  due  west  to  the  Mississippi,  which  South  Ca¬ 
rolina  gran  ed.  The  grants  from  Connecticut  and 
New  York  embraced  lands  lying  in  the  Canadas, 
and  were,  to  a  great  extent,  of  no  avail.  Tennes¬ 
see  was  carved  from  North  Carolina,  and  Ken¬ 
tucky  from  Virginia.  So  that  the  grants,  in  reali¬ 
ty,  are  applicable  to  no  part  except  that  rich  and 
beautiful  country  that  lies  between  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  embracing  what  was  called  the  North¬ 
western  Territory.  Extensive,  rich,  and  valuable 
as  it  is,  embracing,  as  it  does,  four  powerful  States, 
with  the  probability  of  another  very  soon,  yet,  as 
compared  with  all  that  vast  region  that  stretches 
itself  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Moun¬ 
tains  and  to  the  Pacific,  where  nature  revels  in  her 
loveliest  and  most  favorite  retreats,  it  is  but  small. 
And  when  we  take  into  consideration  that  most  of 
it  is  now  settled  up,  and  then  compare  the  lands 
that  are  now  to  be  sold  there,  with  those  that  are 
to  be  brought  into  market  in  the  Territories,  that 
have  been  purchased  by  treaty,  and  it  is  “as  a  drop 


I 


in  the  bucket,  and  dust  in  the  balance.”  The  lands 
purchased  by  treaty,  with  the  incidental  expenses, 
have  cost  forty  millions  of  dollars.  This  was  paid 
for  out  of  the  common  Treasury,  by  taxes  raised 
from  every  portion  of  the  Union.  This  land  was 
paid  for  by  ike  old  States,  and  where  is  the  princi¬ 
ple,  or  where  is  the  justice,  that }  uts  their  proceeds 
up  for  division  upon  the  tame  grounds  that  you 
claim  under  the  grant  from  Virginia,  which  you 
say  created  a  specific  trust  fund?  There  must  be 
something  understood  in  this  more  than  would 
strike  the  supeificial  observer.  If  you  give  back 
to  each  State  precisely  what  it  has  contributed  or 
paid,  it  would  be  useless,  for  it  would  then  be  im¬ 
material  whether  you  gave  it  back,  or  whether  you 
applied  it  honestly  to  the  common  purposes  of  the 
Union,  and  then  diminished  the  taxes  by  the  same 
amount.  But  if  you  give  to  cne  State  more  than 
it  contributed,  then  it  would  be  a  fraud;  and  if  you 
gave  to  one  less,  it  would  then  be  gross  injustice. 
And  if  you  finally  imposed  taxes  to  supply 
the  vacuum  created  in  the  revenue,  which  ope¬ 
rated  unequally,  it  would  then  be,  adding 
to  fraud  and  injustice,  undisguised  and  base  oppres¬ 
sion.  Sir,  it  is  not  intended  that  this  system  shall 
be  equal.  To  taik  of  distributing  the  proceeds  of 
lands  acquired  by  purchase,  and  paid  for  out  of 
the  common  revenue  of  this  Government,  and  to 
pretend  to  equality  and  justice  in  it,  is  an  outrage 
upon  common  sense.  To  attempt  such  a  thing  is 
ridiculous — it  is  worse  than  ridiculous — it  is  wan¬ 
tonly  sporting  with  the  resources  of  the  Republic. 

I  know  of  no  ground  upon  which  this  bill  can 
rest,  so  far  as  related  to  the  lands  purchased,  ex¬ 
cept  the  one  openly  assumed  every  where — to  re¬ 
lieve  the  sufferings  of  the  communi'y  (that  is,  the 
fundholder  and  stockjobber) — to  relieve  the  credit 
of  the  States,  &e.  The  amount  to  be  distributed 
would  not  pay  half  the  interest  on  the  debts  due, 
and  its  relief  would  be  mockery  and  delusion,  and 
those  who  rely  on  it  will  be  fatally  deceived.  The 
whole  profit  and  benefit  will  be  divided  amongst 
the  money-changers,  who  may  happen  to  be  mo^t 
in  favor,  for  the  time  being,  with  the  dominant  in¬ 
terests  that  will  sway  your  State  Legislatures  for 
selfish  purposes.  These  will  be  the  men  who  will 
receive  the  money. 

The  gentleman  from  Maryland  [Mr.  Johnson] 
had  attempted  to  identify  this  distribution  amongst 
the  States,  to  relieve,  as  he  says,  the  wants  of  the 
States,  with  the  assumption  of  what  was  called  the 
State  debts  by  the  General  Government,  after 
the  Revolution.  The  gentleman  had  classified 
the  two  together.  Was  the  gentleman  seri¬ 
ous  in  attempting  to  rest  these  two  cases  upon 
the  same  ground?  What  was  the  assumption  of 
State  debts  at  that  time?  What  was  the  situation 
of  the  country?  There  was  in  fact  no  central  go¬ 
vernment,  or  at  all  events  it  was  impotent  so  far 
as  taxation  was  concerned.  We  were  in  the  midst 
of  a  revolution.  Immediately  after  the  Declara¬ 
tion  of  Independence,  active,  efficient  governments 
were  organized  in  our  States,  with  power  to  tax 
and  raise  revenue.  From  their  superior  organiza¬ 
tion  at  the  time,  they  were  enabled  to  raise  funds  to 
pay  your  armies,  to  advance  the  means  by  which 
they  were  enabled  to  fight  the  battles  of  indepen¬ 
dence,  for  the  general  defence  and  welfare  of  the 


whole  country.  The  States  came  forward  to  ad¬ 
vance  funds  in  a  noble  cause  where  they  had 
plighted  to  each  other  their  faith — a  cause  which 
secured  American  Independence,  and  finally  sent 
our  stars  and  stripes  streaming  in  triumph  and  in 
glory  through  every  quarter  of  the  habitable  globe. 
It  was  in  this  cause  i hat  Massachusetts  and  South 
Carolina  had  advanced  about  four  millions  of  dol¬ 
lars  each  for  the  defence  of  the  whole.  The  rest 
of  the  States  advanced  also,  but  this  was  more  than 
was  advanced  by  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 
The  State  debts  of  the  present  day  were  contracted 
in  profound  peace — they  were  contracted  for  the 
benefit  of  the  local  interests  of  each  State  in  pursu¬ 
ing  their  various  schemes  of  aggrandizement  and 
wealth.  And  did  the  gentleman  seriously  put 
this  distribution  upon  the  same  grounds  with  the 
assumption  of  the  State  debts  of  the  Revolution?  A 
distribution  to  be  made  not  to  them  who  had  encoun¬ 
tered  peril  and  advanced  their  means  for  the  purpose 
of  defending  the  States,  or  sustaining  the  common 
honor  of  a  united  country;  but  to  sustain  corporations 
and  speculators,  who,  like  leeches,  had  fastened 
'bemselves  upon  the  State  Treasuries — who,  by 
th°ir  active,  exertions — by  means  of  force::  majori¬ 
ties  in  the  Legislatures,  had  combined  together  to 
plunge  the  country  in  debt  beyond  its  immediate 
resources  or  present  means  of  payment.  Sir,  were 
the  two  cases  parallel?  Were  they  to  be  put  upon 
the  same  ground?  Feeling  a  just  pride  in  the  un¬ 
stained  honor  of  the  Revolution,  and  the  noble 
cause  of  the  Stages  in  those  days,  I  indignantly  re¬ 
pel  the  idea.  You  cannot  put  the  two  cases  to¬ 
gether,  nor  was  the  matter  worthy  of  consideration 
in  that  point  of  view. 

There  has  recently  sprung  up  in  the  country  a 
class  of  men  who  desired  to  get  rid  of  that  everlast¬ 
ing  curse  placed  upon  man  in  the  first  ages  of  so¬ 
ciety,  that  he  should  “eat  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
his  brow.”  They  were  attempting  to  live  by  their  » 
wits  instead  of  their  labor.  I  am  against  raising 
funds  through  Government  to  feed  these  drones  in 
society,  who  are  too  proud  to  work.  They  are 
the  legitimate  descendants  of  those  moneychangers, 
whom  Christ  kicked  from  the  Temple  as  hypocrites 
and  swindlers.  These  are  the  men  who  hang 
around  your  public  Treasury  here,  and  in  the 
States,  always  pressing  for  taxes,  and  eager  for  a 
division  of  the  public  spoils. 

But  the  gentleman  [Mr.  Johnson]  has  placed 
this  distribution  upon  State  Rights  grounds.  He 
complains  of  the  absorbing  influence  of  this  centra¬ 
lizing  Government,  ana  presses  this  bill  because  it 
will  have  a  contrary  tendency.  Let  us  examine 
into  this.  The  seat  of  vitality  in  our  system,  is  the 
taxing  power  of  this  Government.  This  was  a 
great  step  towards  a  stronger  and  more  consolida¬ 
ted  Government’  than  the  old  Confederation.  It 
added  vastly  to  its  centralizing  power.  But  add 
now  the  power  not  only  to  collect  taxes  directly, 
but  also  the  power  to  distribute  back  again  amongst 
the  States  the  revenue  collected,  and  you  make  it 
then  work  both  ways  towards  centralization.  Col- 
ect  money  to  distribute  habitually,  and  you  create 
a  party  in  every  State  who  will  organize  and  act 
together  to  receive  that  distribution.  It  will  be  a 
moneyed  jSarty,  looking  up  to  the  action  of  this 
Government,  and  forming  combinations  with  par- 


ties  of  like  kind  in  f  very  State,  all  moving  together 
with  eagerness  and  concert,  stimulated  by  one  feel¬ 
ing,  and  move?  by  one  power.  You  link  them  all 
together  around  the  Federal  car — you  make  the 
meanest  and  lowest  of  all  consolidation — a  conso¬ 
lidation  of  moneyed  interest  and  moneyed  power. 
With  such  a  system  every  noble  and  elevated  feel¬ 
ing  of  patriotism  would  wither  and  die  away  un¬ 
der  the  absorbing  and  base  passion  of  avarice.  A 
republic  is  either  the  nob’est  and  purest  of  all  go¬ 
vernments,  or  it  is  the  most  corrupt  and  profligate. 
It  can  scarcely  retain  a  middle  position.  So  long 
as  it  is  kept  free,  it  nurtures  simplicity,  manliness, 
and  valor;  but  when  it  degenerates,  it  becomes  the 
hot  bed  of  cunning,  treachery,  cowardice,  and  sel¬ 
fishness. 

The  gentleman  [Mr.  Johnson]  has  himself  given 
ns  a  fearful  picture  of  the  centralizing  influence  at 
present  of  this  Government;  and  has  spoken  of 
fifteen  hundred  applicants  for  one  office,  and  the 
increasing  corruptions  of  the  Federal  Government. 
Mr.  P.  said  he  had  listened  with  interest  to  the  gen¬ 
tleman  on*  these  points. 

[Mr.  W.  Cost  Johnson  said  he  did  not  speak  of 
the  corruptions  of  the  Federal  Government.  He 
spoke  of  the  power  of  the  Government,  and  among 
other  things,  illustrated  it  by  the  number  of  per¬ 
sons  who  locked  to  the  central  Government  for  pa¬ 
tronage,  but  did  not  reflect  upon  the  motives  of  the 
candidates  for  public  favor,  or  debate  their  right 
or  their  motives.  He  spoke  altogether  of  the  vast 
power  of  the  Executive  head  of  this  nation  ] 

Yes,  sir,  it  was  melancholy  to  think  of  these 
things;  and  yet  the  bill  on  your  table  is  calculated 
to  increase  this  power  r  ’  patronage  tenfold. 
When  I  reflect  oa  the  gre.  t  t  ]e  of  oflice  seekers, 
who  rushed  here  on  the  4th  of  March  last,  like 
half  famished  wolves  on  the  great  prairies  of  the 
West,  I  confess  I  tremble  for  the  future,  as  to 
the  increasing  power  of  this  Government.  How- 
'ever,  this  great  herd — this  mass,  hungry  and  howl¬ 
ing  as  they  were,  did  not  effect  me  as  much  as 
other  things.  When  I  turned  my  eyes  from  them, 
and  saw  those  who  occupied  high  places,  who  were 
considered  amongst  the  distinguished  of  the  land — 
when  I  saw  them  smelling  their  way  into  the  greasy 
places  of  the  “Palace,”  licking  their  chops,  and, 
dog-like, wagging  their  tails  for  the  bones  that  might 
be  thrown  them — I  confess  I  felt  every  proud  emo¬ 
tion  and  lofty  aspiration  sink  and  sicken  with 
disgust.  And  now  make  an  habitual  distribu¬ 
tion  of  money  from  this  Government,  and 
you  increase  all  these  disgusting  scenes. 

You  create  dependants  and  expectants  in  every 
State  throughout  this  Confederacy.  The  purple  of 
Presidential  power  would  be  put  up  every  four  years, 
and  bid  for  by  the  plunderers  of  the  Republic.  All 
heroism,  and  patriotism,  and  valor,  would  die  away, 
and  the  lowest  vices  would  reign  triumphant.  Ava¬ 
rice — keen,  hungry,  and  lean — would  be  the  god 
before  which  the  nation  would  bow  down  and  wor¬ 
ship  in  base  idolatry.  Have  we  rdad  the  lessons 
of  history  to  no  advantage?  Look  at  Republican 
Rome — once  a  proud  and  heroic  people.  They 
were  powerful  and  vinuous,  until  demagogues 
taught  them  to  look  to  the  public  granaries  for  corn. 
As  soon  as  they  began  to  divide  the  spoils,  they  be 
came  a  nation  of  robbers  and  plunderers,  and  sunk 


into  the  deepest  degeneracy  and  corruption.  And 
are  we  now  to  commence  a  system  which  will  in¬ 
evitably  lead  us  through  the  same  career?  Call  up 
your  hordes  from  this  wide-spread  land,  who  will 
hibitually  receive  money  that  you  may  collect  here 
for  distribution,  and  you  create  a  mighty  system, 
which  will  finally  prove  the  euthanasia  of  the  Re¬ 
public.  If  the  States  should  submit  to  it  (which  I 
think  probably  would  not  be  the  case,)  we  would 
then  sink  down  quietly  into  the  basest  despotism — 
the  pity  and  contempt  of  mankind.  Where  a  Go¬ 
vernment  is  aristocratic  in  its  form,  those  who 
wield  its  power  may  become  enervated  and  corrupt 
for  a  time,  and  yet  the  nation  may  recover,  because 
the  great  body  of  the  people  may  still  be  virtuous 
and  patriotic.  But  when  a  Republic,  where  the 
power  is  in  the  people,  becomes  corrupt,  then  the 
whole  body  politic  languishes  and  dies — there  is  no 
recuperative  energy — the  heart  of  the  system  is  poi¬ 
soned,  and  every  puke  and  muscle  becomes  feeble 
and  languid. 

The  gentleman  speaks  of  this  system  as  calcu¬ 
lated  to  advance  State  Rights.  From  what  analogy 
does  the  gentleman  draw  his  reasoning?  Sir,  I 
consider  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  strictly 
construed,  not  at  all  incompatible  with  State 
R  ghts;  and  it  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that 
those  with  whom  I  act  would  take  one  particle 
from  the  just  power  of  this  Government.  Engraft 
upon  this  Government  this  system  of  distribution, 
so  alien  to  the  Constitution,  and  y<u  breakdown 
all  desire  to  keep  up  any  general  system  of  de¬ 
fences  calling  for  heavy  expenditures.  You  would 
saciifice  the  great  objects  and  ends  of  this  Union. 
A  distinguished  Senator,  now  Secretary  of  State, 
has  made  an  argument  which  indirectly  intimates 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  this  Government  to  assist  the 
States,  (if  not  to  pay  their  debts,)  from  the  fact 
that  the  States  have  surrendered  the  most  impor¬ 
tant  source  of  their  revenue,  the  customs.  He 
says  that  on  the  part  of  the  Atlantic  States  this  is 
a  great  sacrifice.  Follow  this  idea  out,  and  apply 
it  to  this  system  of  distribution.  You  propose  to 
collect  money  from  the  new  S  ates,  and  divide  it 
annually  amongst  the  old  Atlantic  States,  and  the 
result  will  be  that  they  will  soon  begin  to 
turn  their  eyes  towards  the  customs.  They 
will  argue  that  by  consumption  they  pay  as 
much  of  the  imposts  as  the  Atlantic  States  do 
through  which  the  importations  are  made,  and  that 
as  you  divide  the  money  brought  into  the  revenue 
from  the  new  and  interior  States,  it  is  your  duty 
also  to  divide  that  coming  from  the  customs.  They 
will  say  that,  as  they  pay  by  consumption  as 
much  of  the  taxes  from  customs  as  you  do,  and 
as  they  receive'  but  little  of  it  back,  and  as  you 
take  all  the  land  revenue  collected  from  them  and 
divide  it,  that  they  must  have  something  to  equa¬ 
lize  the  moneyed  action  of  the  Government.  They 
will  demand  it  as  right.  And,  sir,  there  will  be 
some  plausibility  in  it.  And  after  the  next  census 
they  will  not  stop  to  ask  you  if  it  be  a  sound  argument 
— but  they  will  have  the  power  to  make  it  law.  You 
tread  on  dangerous  ground  when  you  commence 
this  system — ground  at  war  with  the  high  pur¬ 
poses  of  this  Union.  When  you  ask  money  to 
defend  your  flag  upon  the  ocean — when  you  ask 
for  money  to  defend  the  land  at  home  and  your 


7 


honor  abroad — you  will  find  ten  thousand  greedy 
interests  springing  up  throughout  the  States,  de¬ 
manding  the  last  dollar  for  division,  while  you  will 
have  to  submit  to  insult  and  dishonor,  and  a  de¬ 
luded  and  betrayed  people  willsink  down  into  drivel¬ 
ling  imbecility.  S;r,  I  love  the  war  attributes  of  this 
Government.  I  love  its  capacity  as  secured  by 
the  Constitution,  for  a  common  defence  of  our 
common  rights  and  united  honor.  I  love  its  power 
in  war — and  its  forbearing  principles  in  peace. 

Let  it  be  powerful  in  war  from  its  commanding 
the  undivided  attachment  and  loyalty  of  a  devoted 
people  in  peace.  Let  all  local  interests  be  strictly 
left  to  the  States — let  what  is  common  to  all — our 
independence,  liberty,  and  union — be  sacredly 
guarded  and  defended  by  a  common  Government. 
Mr.  Chairman,  I  would  not,  if  I  could,  take  a 
single  power  from  that  sacred  charter  that  binds 
these  States  together.  Sir,  I  would  not,  if  I  could, 
pluck  a  single  feather  from  the  plumage  of  the 
American  eagle.  No;  let  him  stand  forth  in  all  his 
vigor,  and  power,  and  glory,  but  let  him  stand  upon 
the  scroll  of  the  Constitution,  and  my  heart  shall 
always  exult  to  see  the  bright  constellation  of 
American  States  forever  glitter  and  glow  around 
his  brow. 

The  Cons'itution,  strictly  construed,  is  as  it 
should  be.  Tnere  is  no  need  of  adding  by  con¬ 
struction.  It  is  a  vast  mistake  to  suppose  that  the 
strength  of  die  Union  or  the  Government  is  in¬ 
creased  by  assuming  power:  it  is  the  reverse.  For¬ 
merly,  usurpation  added  strength.  But.  the  world 
is  now  changed.  Intelligence  and  information  are 
spreading  throughout  all  ranks.  There  is  a  keen 
jealousy  towards  unnecessary  power.  An  unedu¬ 
cated  people  may  submit  to  the  exercise  of  strong 
and  useless  authority  in  Government;  but  ex* 
ercise  doubtful  and  needless  power  amongst 
an  intellectual  people,  who  have  been  educated 
to  freedom  under  a  Government  limited  by 
specific  grants,  and  you  create  murmurs,  jealous¬ 
ies,  aad  resistance,  which  will  make  its  habitual 
exercise  a  source  of  weakness  instead  of  strength. 
The  strength  of  our  Government  consists  in  its 
justice,  and  in  confining  itself  within  proper  li¬ 
mits.  By  so  doing,  it  will  be  able  always  to 
command  the  united  and  devoted  support  of  all  sec¬ 
tions  and  all  interests.  This  is  its  strength. 

If  you  pass  such  measures  as  this,  and  teach  the 
States  to  look  here  for  distribution,  they  will  make 
this  Government  the  collector  of  taxes  for  their 
entire  support.  They  will  transfer  the  odious 
power  of  taxation  from  themselves  upon  this  Go¬ 
vernment,  and  the  people  will  have  little  or  no 
control  over  the  matter.  The  consequence  will 
be,  that  the  large  central  States  of  the  Union,  New 
York,  Onio,  Pennsylvania,  and  Virginia,  will 
overshadow  the  Government,  and,  by  concentra¬ 
tion  of  action,  will  control  it  entirely  for  their  bene¬ 
fit,  without  reference  to  the  small  and  remote  States 
of  the  Union.  And  if  war  should  be  forced  upon 
us,  these  central  States  will  be  the  only  ones  ca¬ 
pable  of  defence;  whilst  the  extremeties  will  be 
sacrificed,  they  will  hold  the  revenues  of  the  Ge¬ 
neral  Government  under  their  control,  and  use 
those  revenues  for  themselves.  This  they  will  be 
enabled  to  do  from  their  location  and  concentrated 
action;  and  this  distribution  once  established, with  its 


attendant  consequences,  will  always  give  them  the 
most  ample  means  of  control. 

But,  Mr.  Chairman,  continued  Mr.  P.  the  mo¬ 
neyed  operation  of  this  bill,  is  not  as  im¬ 
portant  as  its  political  effects  upon  the  union 
and  harmony  cf  the  States.  It  is  from  the  new 
Slates  alone  that  you  will  collect  the  money  which 
you  propose  to  divide.  This  will  force  them  to¬ 
gether  in  feeling  and  in  action,  and  throw  the  old 
States  on  the  antagonist  grounds.  Do  you  expect 
that  this  will  produce  the  kindest  feelings?  It  will 
be  the  reverse.  Are  we  to  legislate  for  the  day  or 
the  year?  No,  sir;  look  to  the  future.  There  is 
now  sufficient  difference  in  interest  between  dif¬ 
ferent  States  of  the  Union,  and  do  not  increase  that 
difference  by  creating  a  system  which  will  make 
one  portion  in  effect  tributaries,  and  the  other  por¬ 
tion  recipients  of  bounties.  In  twenty  years  from 
this,  our  population  will  be  about  32,000, 000;  in 
forty  years,  it  will  be  near  64,000,000;  and  in 
eighty  years,  it  will  be  near  130,000,000.  And 
what  are  eighty  years  in  national  existence?  Lite¬ 
rally  nothing.  You  will  see  in  that  time,  star 
after  star  rising  from  your  magnificent  domain 
but  to  add  new  lustre,  to  your  national  banner. 
And  are  you  so  vain  as  to  believe  that  this  misera¬ 
ble  and  temporizing  system  which  you  now  pro¬ 
pose  to  create,  will  stand  the  test  of  time?  Will 
that  spirited  and  noble  population  which  will  roll 
from  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  up  the  sides  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains,  bear  a  system  by  which  yon 
will  collect  annually  millions  upon  millions  from 
them,  merely  to  be  distributed  amongst  the  fund- 
holders  and  stock  interests  of  your  Allan. ic  cities? 
If  you  call  from  them  their  treasure  to  defend  oar 
rights  and  hondr,  they  will  pour  it  our,  without  a 
raujrmur;  but  pervert  it  from  these  huh  purposes 
to  mere  distribution  of  money,  and  it  is  not  nature 
to  bear  it.  You  may  call  it  no  tax,  but  a  mere  sale 
of  land.  This  will  avail  but  little.  They  will  call 
it  a  collection  of  funds  creating  an  annual  drain. 
They  will  look  upon  you  as  hard  task  masters,  and 
their  feelings  of  attachment  and  sympathy  will  give 
place  to  the  worst  passions  of  the  human,  heart. 
Why,  Mr.  Chairman,  should  we  look  upon  that 
splendid  country  to  -be  settled  with  one  particle  of 
jealousy?  They  are  "bone  of  our  bone,  and  flesh 
of  our  flesh” — we  all  have  a  common  feeling  and 
a  common  destiny.  Let  them  go  on  and  develope 
the  resources  of  an  unknown  country.  Every  set¬ 
tlement,  every  county,  every  State,  a  ids  to  the  na¬ 
tional  wealth  and  national  power.  Every  man,  who 
spreads  his  tent  upon  the  praries  of  the  far  West, 
is  but  preparing  to  open  new  fields  of  enterprise 
and  wealth  for  our  common  country.  And,  sir, 
if  these  old  Atlantic  States  should  ever  be  invaded, 
the  great  valleys  of  the  We4  will  be  nurturing  up 
a  daring  and  heroic  race,  who  will  come  back  to 
fight  the  battles  of  liberty  over  the  graves  and  the 
tombs  of  their  fathers.  Do  nothing,  I  entreat  you, 
to  alienate  this  great  people  from  the  rest  of  the 
Confederacy.  Let  us  all  sleep  in  peace  forever, 
under  the  broad  folds  of  one  common  banner.  Let 
us  rejoice  in  their  growth  and  their  prosperity. 
Nature  has  placed  their  country  there.  Wecannot 
strike  it  from  the  map.  It  is  in  vain  to  attempt  to 
check  the  swelling  tide  of  emigration.  You  might 
as  well  attempt  to  chain  the  wave  of  the  ocean*. 


8 


Let  us  not  look  upon  them  as  rich  provinces, 
from  whence  we  can  collect  wealth  to  divide  out 
and  distribute  amongst  an  agrarian  people. 
Pass  the  bill  upon  your  table,  and  you  make  them 
tributary  vassals.  You  lay  the  foundation  for  a 
separate  and  independent  empire  in  the  West. 

At  one  period  of  the  world,  the  Roman  eagles 
floated  in  triumph  and  in  power  from  the  Euphrates 
to  Gibraltar.  But  when  her  conquering  generals 
habitually  brought  back  spoils  and  wealth  from  de¬ 
vastated  provinces,  to  be  divided  at  the  centre 
amongst  those  who  were  styled  “ Roman  citizens  ” 
the  Government  sunk  down  in  corruption  and  blood; 
and  now,  the  scattered  fragments  of  a  broken  and 
dismembered  empire  exist  here  and  there,  only  to 
mark  where  the  Republic  once  was.  If  the  new 
States  were  peopled  by  an  ignorant  and  half 
barbarian  race,  you  might  then  calculate  on  their 
sinking  peaceably  into  a  State  of  tributary  vassal 
lage.  But  as  it  is,  pass  this  system — look  upon 
them  as  future  sources  of  revenue  for  permanent 
distribution,  not  to  support  the  honor  of  the  Union, 
but  to  feed  drones  and  speculators,  and  you  will  see 
the  beacon  fires  of  an  indignant  people  blaze  over 
a  thousand  hills  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the 
other. 

Mr.  Chairman  !  the  management  and  settlement 
of  our  immense  public  domain,  is  to  a  great  extent 
our  colonial  system.  The  management  and  settle¬ 
ment  of  new  States  has  always  been  a  debcate  and 
important  question  to  every  Government  that  has 
encountered  it. 

I  am  one  of  those  who  believe  we  have  made  no 
great  improvement  over  the  ancients  in  their  know¬ 
ledge  of  human  nature,  or  of  those  elements  calcu¬ 
lated  to  make  a  State  great.  When. they  settled  a 
colony,  they  nurtured  and  cherished  it  with  pride. 
They  did  not  lay  their  colonies  under  tribute. 
They  did  not  look  upon  them  as  permanent  sources 
of  revenue.  No:  they  looked  upon  them  as  friends 
*  in  peace  and  allies  in  war.  They  acted  towards 
them  in  the  most  liberal  and  enligh’ened  policy.  It 
was  left  to  the  commercial  avarice  of  modern  times 
to  pursue  a  different  course.  England,  Portugal, 
and  Spain,  had  the  finest  colonies  ever  known 
But  they  looked  upon  their  growing  wealth  and 
enterprise  with  jealousy;  they  made  them  perma¬ 
nent  sourcss  of  revenue  for  the  mother  country; 
they  raised  from  them  annual  contribution  with 
which  to  enrich  themselves.  The  consequence 
was,  that  they  lost  the  finest  possessions  that  ever 
belonged  to  any  people.  And  it  is  only  by  modi¬ 
fying  their  policy,  that  they  have  been  enabled  to 
retain  any  portion.  And  now  with  the  lights  of 
experience  before  us,  you  propose  by  this  bill  to 
adopt  a  system  somewhat  similar  in  its  piinciplcs 
to  that  formerly  adopted  by  Spain  and  England  in 
relation  to  their  colonies.  And  the  final  conse¬ 
quences  will  be  the  same.  You  may  find  some  of 
the  new  States  acquiescing  for  a  time  under  their 
embarrassments  and  the  pressure  of  commercial 
'derangement,  but  they  will  soon  recover  from 
that.  You  cannot  keep  down  the  energies  of 
this  people.  Their  embarrassments  are  but 
temporary.  They  will  rise  above  them  in  a  very 
few  years.  Are  we  to  legislate  for  a  mere  tempo-* 
rai  y  state  of  things?  Is  it  wise  to  pass  a  bill  of  this 
kind,  which  was  to  operate  upon  millions  of  hu¬ 


man  beings  as  enlightened  and  as  free  as  ourselves, 
under  pressure  and  embarrassments  from  which 
they  were  sure,  in  the  progress  of  things,  to  be  re¬ 
lieved  in  a  very  short  period?  and  that,  too,  when 
the  very  principles  of  the  bill  were  so  well  calcula¬ 
ted  to- produce  alienation  and  unkind  feelings? 
They  will  soon  assert  the  doctrine  that  under  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  they  came  into  the 
Union  as  equals,  and  that  to  own  the  freehold 
within  their  limits,  is  an  essential  attribute  of  sove¬ 
reignty.  You  will  force  upon  them  this  doc¬ 
trine. 

Mr.  Chairman,  what  is  the  state  of  the  world? 
In  the  vast  improvements  of  the  age,  we  find  every 
nation  around  us  increasing  their  military  power. 
Have  we  no  difficulties?  Have  we  no  points  of 
difference  with  a  haughty  and  powerful  nation? 
True,  we  were  at  peace.  But  we  had  recently 
shown,  through  the  accredited  agents  of  our  Go¬ 
vernment,  a  spirit  and  tone  but  illy  calculated  to 
sustain  the  honor  and  independence  of  the  country. 

I  will  forbear  to  speak  my  sentiments  on  that  point 
at  present.  It  is  a  delicate  matter,  and  I  will  sup¬ 
press  the  feelings  of  scorn  that  I  entertain  for  the 
manner  in  which  our  foreign  intercourse  has  re¬ 
cently  been  conducted.  But  is  this  a  time  to  di¬ 
vert  an  important  branch  of  your  revenue  from  the 
public  defences  of  the  country?  Were  we  prepared 
to  take  a  course  that  would  dry  lip  our  re¬ 
sources  at  a  time  when  they  might  be  needed 
for  the  highest  purposes  of  Government? 
there  be  any  surplus,  spend  it  on  your  navy, 
to  protect  your  flag  from  open  dishonor-guard 
your  commerce — defend  your  soil  from  vioiatiQn. 
— your  citizens  from  murder — prepare  to  sustain, 
your  rights  at  home  and  abroad — spend  your  mo¬ 
ney  for  these  purposes.  But  I  entreat  you  to  do 
nothing  that  will  alienate  the  affections  of  any  por¬ 
tion  of  our  people  from  their  Government  at  this 
juncture  of  our  public  affairs.  Let  not  this  great 
Union  be  perverted  from  its  high  national  objects 
into  a  contemptible  machine  to  collect  revenue  to 
be  distributed  amongst  those  who  will  hang  around 
your  Treasury  as  fawning  sycophants  and  profli¬ 
gate  bankrupts. 

Mr.  Chairman,  I  know  that  I  address  a  fixed  and 
inexorable  majority.  But  let  me  appeal  to  them  to 
consider  what  they  are  about  to  do.  Coming  as  they 
do  fresh  from  the  conflict  of  bitter  party  contests, 
and  flushed  with  the  triumph  of  victory,  have  they 
reflected  fully  on  this  great  subject  with  a  sole 
view  to  promote  the  lasting  good  of  their  country? 
Those  only  live  in  the  admiration  of  posterity  who 
can,  on  great  occasions,  rise  superior  to  party 
trammels,  and  look  alone  to  their  country,  her  honor, 
her  interests,  and  her  true  glory.  If  Napoleon,  in 
his  pride  of  power,  had  consulted  the  partner  of 
bis  early  fortunes,  and  looked  with  a  single 
devotion  to  the  star  of  France,  he  might 
th  is  day  have  been  wielding  in  peace  the  same 
sword  that  he  flashed  in  the  blaze  of  victory 
at  Marengo  and  Austerlitz.  There  is  no  policy  so 
fatal  as  to  push  power  to  an  extreme.  Sir,  we  are 
at  an  important  point  in  legislation.  I  appeal  to 
gentlemen  to  survey  the  ground  well.  I  invoke  the 
spirit  of  the  entombed  Constitution  to  save  my 
country  from  the  ruin  that  awaits  her,  if  these  reck¬ 
less  schemes  be  adopted. 


